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Old 05-07-2016, 06:58 PM   #1
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Draining the hot water heater

Decided to drain the hot water heater today. Little FYI for those(me) who don't do their homework first. Release the pressure first before you remove the drain plug/anode. Holy crap
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Old 05-07-2016, 07:04 PM   #2
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Hope the water was not hot. Did you ever find the plug/anode?
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Old 05-07-2016, 07:23 PM   #3
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Ya found an anode. Doused my 55 the front windows of the house and me. What a mess with all that white sediment. The anode definitely did its job though. What a hoot.
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Old 05-07-2016, 07:58 PM   #4
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Don't forget to rinse the tank and clean the threads!
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Old 05-07-2016, 08:22 PM   #5
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Thanks cp. Bought on of those plastic flush dodads that go on the end of the hose ya stick in the hole and rotate it inside. Did it till water was clear.
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Old 05-08-2016, 12:19 PM   #6
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Lol !!
Been there...done that !
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Old 05-08-2016, 01:10 PM   #7
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All it takes to relieve the tank pressure is to open one of the hot water faucets.
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Old 05-08-2016, 01:15 PM   #8
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Or open the relief valve which is about 10" away
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Old 05-08-2016, 01:23 PM   #9
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Hot Water

Glad to see I'm not the only male with a problem thinking. It also sent the rod about 10 feet onto the neighbor's driveway, luckily no car parked there that day.
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Old 05-08-2016, 01:32 PM   #10
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Decided to drain the hot water heater today. Little FYI for those(me) who don't do their homework first. Release the pressure first before you remove the drain plug/anode. Holy crap
don't feel too bad. I think half of us or more probably learned that lesson the hard way. Duh. Now it seems so obvious we can just quietly feel stupid
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Old 05-08-2016, 01:48 PM   #11
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Russ. Found mine in the planter.
Thanks Tom
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Old 05-08-2016, 02:02 PM   #12
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Mike, unless you do it at 1 AM in freezing temps, you don't get the full effect. Been there, done that. LOL

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Old 05-08-2016, 02:11 PM   #13
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wm. Got lucky there it was about 70º
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Old 05-08-2016, 02:25 PM   #14
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Ya found an anode. Doused my 55 the front windows of the house and me. What a mess with all that white sediment. The anode definitely did its job though. What a hoot.
White Crud!!!! Yes opened low point drains one year when we left FL and drained all that crud out of HW tank......Plugged up the toilet valve on back of unit after I closed the lo pt drains when we started camping again in summer
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Old 05-08-2016, 04:03 PM   #15
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Or open the relief valve which is about 10" away
You can still get sprayed by doing it that way. I also know of people who have had issues getting it to reseal properly due to mineral build up.
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Old 05-08-2016, 04:09 PM   #16
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Easiest way is turn off water pump or disconnect from city, open a hot water faucet until it quits running, then go outside and open pressure relief valve on water heater and THEN remove plug or anode.
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Old 05-08-2016, 04:31 PM   #17
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wm. Got lucky there it was about 70º
But was the water hitting you in the crouch still hot? And crouch hit with a big bolt looking thing. NOT FUN.
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Old 05-08-2016, 04:31 PM   #18
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Done that too.

It was almost freezing when we were winterizing. My other half was new to camping, so not wanting to explain everything to him, I tried to do it all quickly because of the cold. I not only forgot to flip the relief valve, I stood in front of the water heater while turning the anode rod. I ended up soaked and with a sore stomach where the anode hit me. I don't think I will forget to do it again like that.
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Old 05-08-2016, 07:31 PM   #19
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Do I need to put water back in the hot water heater?
Tom. No hot water and not sure if the anode hit me or not I was in total shock when that bad boy let go. I'll be cleaning white crud for days.
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Old 05-08-2016, 07:45 PM   #20
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This thread is an excellent example of why you need to CLOSE the winterizing valves when draining the hot water heater.

It will keep all that crap out of your cold water pipes!
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